Bread

This Mother’s Day I made Chicken Parmesan. For the past several months, I’ve been dreaming of garlic knots after having them at a little hole in the wall pizzeria. I decided they would be the perfect side to the Chicken Parmesan (which will also be coming to the blog soon), but I didn’t want to spend a lot of time making them. Using pre-made pizza crust dough makes this recipe quick and easy, but also amazing!

First, you roll the dough out and cut it into strips, about four inches long.

I had fun twisting the dough into knots and it was easier than I thought. You really do just tie a knot, but do it quickly or the dough will start sticking together.

The knots of pizza dough get dipped in a garlic butter bath.

Once the knots bake, they are doused in garlic butter again and sprinkled with parmesan.

Easy Garlic Knots

Knots of pizza dough doused in garlic and butter and topped with grated parmesan

Ingredients

1 tube refrigerated thin crust pizza dough

4 Tb salted butter

2 Tb olive oil

1 ts garlic, minced

1 ts parsley flakes

Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Unroll the pizza dough onto the parchment paper. Roll the dough into a rectangle. Cut the rectangle vertically three times. Then cut each section into strips. Your strips should be about 1 inch wide and 4 inches long.

Holding each end of a dough strip, twist the dough so it is round instead of flat, then tie into a knot. Place on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Melt the butter in the microwave in 20 second intervals until fully melted. Add the garlic and microwave another 5 seconds. Stir in the olive oil and parsley. Brush the garlic butter all over the dough knots. Reserve about 1/3 of the garlic butter for later.

Bake the garlic knots in the oven for about 10 minutes, until they are just turning golden.

Remove from the oven and brush the remaining garlic butter on the garlic knots. Sprinkle generously with grated parmesan cheese.

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My daughter’s favorite food is cheese. Maybe it is in her blood, since she was born in Wisconsin. When I made these cheese breadsticks for the first time, she stated I could make them every day. They are very easy to make. The only tricky part is timing the baking exactly right to get a crispy bottom that isn’t burnt.

You only need a few ingredients to make these. I used thin crust refrigerated pizza dough (in the tube). You can roll out the entire tube of dough to create a rectangle or cut off a strip of dough from the end to create a square. I pre-bake the dough to prevent the breadsticks from being soggy.

What makes these cheese breadsticks extra amazing, is the garlic butter sauce that goes on first. Just a simple combination of melted butter, olive oil, minced garlic, and parsley.

Then comes the cheese. I found that a combination of shredded mozzarella and fancy shredded Italian cheese created the best effect of stretchy, gooey cheese.

Adding an extra sprinkle of parsley and Italian seasoning on top gives these breadsticks more flavor.

Now comes the tricky part. If you don’t bake these long enough, the breadsticks will be floppy and too gooey. If you bake them too long, the bottom of the crust will get burned. I start checking every minute, starting with 8 minutes. A golden crust will give you that perfect crunch on the bottom with garlic butter and melted cheese on top.

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Unroll the pizza dough onto the parchment paper. Pull the corners until the dough is thin and spread out evenly. If desired, cut a 3-4 inch strip of dough off the end to create a square (I did this and used the extra strip of dough to make a mozzarella and pepperoni spiral).

Pre-bake the dough in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven.

Melt the butter. Stir the olive oil, garlic, and 1 ts of parsley into the melted butter. Brush evenly over the entire pre-baked crust. Spread the mozzarella cheese and Italian cheese on the crust and sprinkle lightly with Italian seasoning and parsley.
Bake in the oven for an additional 8-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Watch carefully because the bottom of the crust browns quickly.

Remove from oven. Using a pizza cutter, slice the cheese bread once vertically through the middle, then make horizontal slices to create breadsticks.

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The coming of fall and winter means it’s time to pull out the soup pot (even though it’s still close to 90 degrees in Georgia). This Lasagna Soup is flavorful and hearty, full of ground beef, cheese tortellini, tomatoes and spices. Bonus – it can be made in about 30 minutes. My daughter declared it one of my best recipes yet.

You start by sauteing some onions, then adding spices, tomatoes, and chicken broth. Your kitchen will start to smell amazing while it is simmering.

Using high quality tortellini is important. I used Buitoni brand from the refrigerated section of the supermarket, not dried tortellini.

Of course, what would lasagna be without cheese. Once ladled into the bowl, I topped this soup with a slice of mozzarella, which melts right into the soup. Yum!

Lasagna Soup

A hearty soup full of ground beef, cheese tortellini, and tomatoes, topped with mozzarella cheese

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

3 cups cheese tortellini (fresh refrigerated, not dried)

1 Tb butter

1 cup onion, chopped

1 ts basil, dried

1 ts parsley, dried

1/2 ts garlic, minced

1/2 ts Italian seasoning

4 cups chicken broth

1 14.5 oz. can stewed tomatoes

1 14.5 oz can whole tomatoes

1 cup tomato sauce

2 ts sugar

1 ts salt

1/4 ts pepper

mozzarella cheese, sliced

Directions

Crumble ground beef in a skillet and cook over medium-high heat until browned.

Meanwhile, in a large pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onions and cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Add the basil, parsley, garlic and Italian seasoning. Pour in the chicken broth and stir. Crush the whole tomatoes (using your hands works best) and add to the soup. If the stewed tomatoes are large, chop them into smaller pieces and add them to the soup. Stir in the tomato sauce, sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil.

Add the cheese tortellini. Boil for 3 minutes or until the pasta is soft. Drain the grease from the ground beef and stir the meat into the soup.

Reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with a slice of mozzarella cheese.

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Monkey bread doesn’t have to be sweet. Nor does it need to be baked in a bundt pan. These monkey bread rolls are cheesy and savory and baked in a muffin pan. They make a nice addition to an Italian meal, pizza, or soup.

Using refrigerated biscuit dough helps this recipe become quick and easy. Simply start by cutting each biscuit into 6-8 small pieces. Then toss them in a large bowl with melted butter, seasonings, and cheese.

After that, you smoosh several of the biscuit pieces into each opening of a muffin pan. Make sure you smash them down a little bit, so that the pieces with stick together once baked.

Once they come out of the oven, they are puffed up into cheesy, golden bread muffins.

You can either take a big bite outta these or tear off the little chunks of biscuit one by one. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray.

Cut each biscuit into 6-8 pieces. Place biscuit pieces in a large bowl and pour melted butter on top. Stir/flip biscuit pieces to coat. Add seasoning salt and parsley. Stir to coat. Finally add both cheeses and toss the biscuit pieces until they are covered in cheese. They will be sticking together, which is ok.

Smash several biscuit pieces into each well of the muffin pan. The biscuits should come to the top of each opening. Fill until all of the biscuits have been used.

Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the muffins are golden brown.

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I keep feeling like it should be cool out, but when I step outside it is still hot and humid. That is what September is like in the south. However, it’s football season, and these cheese bombs are great football food. Soft and cheesy, with a crunchy top, they are quite tasty.

Using refrigerated biscuit dough makes this recipe easy. Simply flatten the biscuits, add some mozzarella, and pull all the edges up to seal. Make sure you pinch the dough tight so that the cheese stays enclosed.

Next comes a butter bath and the crunchy, garlicky topping.

Upon baking, these cheese bombs turn a beautiful golden color.

My family just loved these. They also make a great accompaniment to pizza or pasta.

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Sometimes you want an extra bite at dinner that doesn’t take too much effort. These mini cheese cornbread muffins are just that. They can be whipped up quickly and easily and add a tiny bit of something to your dinner plate.

Using a mini muffin pan produces a whole bunch of these little guys, so you have a big family there’s plenty for everyone. Or if you’re just cooking for one or two, the leftovers save nicely and can be popped in the microwave.

I used sharp cheddar cheese in these, which complements nicely with the cornmeal.

Since these were so simple, and tasty too, I’m sure they will become a new staple to my family’s dinner rotation.

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I love hushpuppies. I mean, I really love them. Unfortunately, since I limit my intake of fried food, I don’t make or eat them very often. Since I’m not originally from the south, I had never had a wonderful hushpuppy until I moved here. And it took several experimentations to get the perfect consistency and method to produce actual spheres (rather than misshapen blobs). But finally I have done it! The perfect round hushpuppy, thanks to a cookie scoop!

I also had to thicken up the batter so that they properly fell into the hot oil, without leaving a long tail behind them. A little bit of sugar, buttermilk, and onions make these hushpuppies divine.

The oil must be really hot before you add the hushpuppies. A cookie scoop works miracles to make the perfect round hushpuppy!

Behold, sweet, golden fried perfection.

These have the perfect consistency and texture. I wish I could have more.

Directions

1. Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk in the buttermilk (you can substitute 1/2 cup of milk with 1/2 Tb of vinegar added, let sit for 5 mins before adding to cornmeal), oil, and egg. Stir in the minced onions.

2. Heat the vegetable oil in a deep-fryer. When the oil is hot, use a cookie scoop to drop spoonfuls into the hot oil. Fry about half of the batter at a time, so that the fryer is not too crowded. Turn the hushpuppies after about 2 minutes. Fry until golden, 5-6 minutes total. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a paper towel lined bowl. Repeat with the remaining batter.